2022 in retrospect

UBS Securities Co. Limited (“UBS Securities”) began operations in China in 2007 and since then has broadened its services to further support its clients onshore. As the first foreign-invested and fully-licensed JV securities firm, UBS Securities acts as UBS’s core investment-banking arm in China, implementing the Group’s growth strategy for that country.

Despite COVID-19 restrictions, the 22nd edition of UBS’s flagship event attracted more than 4,500 investors, corporate representatives, and officials to discuss this year’s theme: “People, Planet & Prosperity.”

UBS Next, our strategic fintech portfolio, invested in US-based company Trust & Will, a fully digital estate planning platform that offers an easy, fast and secure way to set up trusts, wills and guardianships online in the US. 

UBS was included in the 2022 Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index for the seventh consecutive year. UBS´s inclusion in the index underscores the firm´s commitments and focus on creating a more diverse, equitable and inclusive organization.

UBS (China) Limited set up a new team to offer focused coverage of swap derivatives linked to exchange rates and interest rates, to better meet the needs of China’s financial institutions.

Recognizing that the firm´s commitment to achieving net zero by 2050 is a journey, key commitments and milestones have been captured in a strategic road-map. The Board of Directors proposed the climate roadmap to be ratified in an advisory vote by shareholders during the Annual General Meeting 2022.

At the start of the Russia–Ukraine war, we established a donation-matching program for UBS employees and clients to support emergency humanitarian relief. To date, we have raised over USD 50m in collaboration with our matching partner XTX Markets. 

UBS Asset Management agreed with its joint venture partner, Mitsubishi Corporation, to sell Mitsubishi Corp.-UBS Realty Inc. The transaction concluded the successful 20-year joint venture.

UBS joined the Green Software Foundation, as a steering member, to explore ways in which it can reduce emissions from its large technology estate.

Swiss SMEs can now integrate insurance coverage for their capital-intensive equipment investments directly and easily into their leasing solutions. With a new offering, UBS and Zurich are expanding their cooperation in the area of bancassurance.

For clients who want to carry out banking transactions independently and have 24/7 access from their smartphones, UBS expanded its leading digital offering with a purely digital product line, UBS key4, which is integrated into the popular UBS Mobile Banking app.

UBS introduced UBS Circle One, a new digital platform and global ecosystem that will offer clients daily new content based on UBS CIO House Views through videos, podcasts and interactive webinars complementing traditional investments. Clients can subsequently choose to directly invest or trade through our mobile banking app.

UBS published the Global Family Office Report 2022, which shows that family offices globally are in a new era of strategic asset allocation, as high inflation, central bank liquidity and rising interest rates compel them to review their investment options.

Neuberger Berman, a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager, reframed its global high-yield fund in partnership with UBS Global Wealth Management. The main aim is to systematically engage with issuers on objectives related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

UBS appointed Iqbal Khan sole President Global Wealth Management (previously co-President) and Naureen Hassan President UBS Americas, succeeding Tom Naratil who has decided to step down from these two roles.

UBS Asset Management acquired five standalone, 700-megawatt development-stage energy storage projects in Texas from Black Mountain Energy Storage.

UBS Next, our strategic fintech portfolio, invested in BigPanda, a leading artificial intelligence IT operations platform. The technology helps companies with automating incident management processes in order to reduce costs, enhance service availability and improve the speed of IT operations.

Orna Therapeutics, founded by MPM, and its affiliate, BioImpact Capital, with funding from the UBS Oncology Impact Fund, announced a USD 3.75bn collaboration to develop and commercialize multiple programs, including the next generation of vaccines, as well as potential treatments in the areas of infectious diseases and oncology.

ETH Zurich (a Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) and UBS launched a strategic partnership to foster entrepreneurship and innovation and raise interest in STEM subjects. For this initiative UBS will invest up to CHF 20m and also make a donation of up to CHF 20m to support the construction of a new building on the ETH campus. 

UBS has signed a long-term collaboration with two pioneering carbon removal companies. Over the next 13 years, 39,500 metric tons of CO₂ is intended to be removed from the atmosphere. Thanks to these collaborations, UBS fosters and supports the scaling-up of innovative carbon removal technologies.

UBS expanded its digital product range with the UBS key4 pension offering (for Swiss Pillar 3a accounts). Clients are now able to plan their retirement in an entirely digital way, in a matter of minutes on their smartphone.

TheUBS Optimus Foundation network, the philanthropic arm of UBS AG, launched its Australian chapter, responding to the growing demand for philanthropy. Australia ranked fifth in the 2020 Charities Aid Foundation World Giving Index.

UBS AG’s wholly owned UBS Fund Distribution (Shenzhen) Company Limited launched WE.UBS, a digital-led platform offering wealth management services to affluent clients in China. This is the Group’s first offering of its kind in the Asia Pacific region.

The CHF 375m bond was issued on the blockchain-based platform of SIX Digital Exchange (SDX) while also being listed and traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange. It is the first digital bond issued by a banking institution globally to be listed, traded and settled on a regulated digital exchange.

Damian Vogel, CRO for UBS´s Global Wealth Management business, will become a member of UBS´s Group Executive Board at the beginning of May 2023 and take on the role of Group Chief Risk Officer, following Christian Bluhm’s decision to step down from his role to focus on his photography business and to pursue opportunities in academia.

UBS launched a new offering, in collaboration with Addepar and Mirador, to boost its reporting and analytical capabilities and provide ultra high net worth clients in the US with a consolidated, real-time view of all their assets and liabilities.

A survey of UBS’s billionaire clients indicated that they are applying capital and ingenuity to make a positive impact. The vast majority of them believe that they should use their wealth and resources to help tackle global challenges.